1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to food and beverage service, and more particularly to a device that facilitates such service away from a conventional table setting.
2. Background Information
People often partake of food and beverage under circumstances such that they must hold both the food and the beverage in their hands as they attempt to consume it. They may do so while standing at a business or social gathering, for example, or while lounging aboard a cruise ship or picnicking. Whatever the situation, eating that way can be somewhat difficult and so we need some way to make the experience more enjoyable.
Consider a typical cocktail party guest. Conversing with others in a crowded room, the guest holds a plate of hors d'oeuvres in the left hand and a glass of some beverage in the right. In order to sip the beverage, they simply raise the glass to their lips. But in order to taste one of the hors d'oeuvres, they must first find a place to set the glass, or transfer it to their left hand and attempt to hold both the plate and glass with one hand. Then, they pick up one of the hors d'oeuvres with the fingers of their right hand. Once finished with the hors d'oeuvres, they again grip the glass with their right hand for the next sip. So, the process is cumbersome and prone to cause embarrassing spillage that can result in property damage and even personal injury.
Various existing devices attempt to solve the problem. For example, the plate described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,685 issued to French (the French plate) includes a recess in which a glass can be placed. Although that facilitates one-handed holding of a plate and glass, it requires use of the French plate. That may be undesirable because the French plate may be less readily available and more expensive than other types of plates commonly used for such purposes, such as five to eight inch glass or china plates or the commercially available, plain, disc-shaped paper or plastic plates currently in such wide-spread usage (i.e., those commonly referred to as discardable party plates).
One could conceivably use the French plate to hold a discardable party plate or one of the other plates mentioned above. But that arrangement may not work too well because the other plate would rest on the upper surface of the bottom of the French plate where it might tend to slide off. Besides, using the French plate with another plate means the added cost and inconvenience of using two plates. Thus, the French plate is somewhat incompatible with existing plates and so users need some other solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,180 issued to Alger describes a plate holder designed to hold a paper plate and a drinking glass. It is compatible with discardable party plates in a way the French plate is not, but it involves somewhat complicated and expensive structure. In addition, it is bulky and uses a closed-bottom glass holder that may tend to accumulate food residue. Moreover, a long stem wine glass may not be very stable in the glass holder. So a better way is needed.